Chest drainage apparatus with adjustable suction control

Abstract

A chest drainage apparatus for draining fluid from a patient includes a collection chamber for collecting the fluid. An inlet port is in fluid communication with the collection chamber for receiving the fluid. A one-way valve is in fluid communication with the collection chamber for preventing air from entering the patient from the inlet port. A vacuum control chamber has a lower end and an upper end in fluid communication with the one-way valve. A flexible conduit has a first end fluid communication with the exterior of the apparatus and a second end movably positioned within the vacuum control chamber. Elevation adjustment apparatus connected to the flexible conduit is provided for moving the second end of the flexible conduit upwardly and downwardly to various positions within the vacuum control chamber and is activatable from the exterior of the chest drainage apparatus. A suction outlet port for communicating with a source of vacuum is in fluid communication with the vacuum control chamber.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An operable chest drainage apparatus for draining fluid from the pleural cavity of a surgical patient comprising: a collection chamber for collecting the fluid;   inlet means in fluid communication with said collection chamber for receiving fluid from the patient;   one-way valve means in fluid communication with said collection chamber for preventing air from entering the patient from said inlet means;   an elongate vacuum control chamber having a closed lower end and an upper end in fluid communication with said one-way valve means;   a flexible conduit having a fixedly positioned first end in fluid communication with a fixed opening to the atmosphere and with the exterior of said apparatus and a second end movably positioned within said vacuum control chamber;   variable elevation adjustment means connected to said flexible conduit for vertically moving said second end upwardly and downwardly to various positions within said vacuum control chamber, the distance between said second end and said first end being decreased as said second end moves upwardly and increased as said second end moves downwardly, said elevation adjustment means being activatable from the exterior of said apparatus; and   suction outlet means in fluid communication with said vacuum control chamber for communicating with a source of vacuum.   
     
     
       2. The chest drainage apparatus of claim 1 further including a quantity of liquid in said vacuum control chamber covering said second end of said flexible conduit so that said second end can be adjusted upwardly and downwardly within said liquid for varying the vacuum forces in said collection chamber when said suction outlet means is communicating with a source of vacuum. 
     
     
       3. The chest drainage apparatus of claim 2 wherein said liquid is selected from the group consisting of water and an saline solution. 
     
     
       4. The chest drainage apparatus of claim 2 wherein a portion of said vacuum control chamber is transparent and said vacuum control chamber includes measuring indicia positioned so that the user can determine distances said second end of said flexible conduit is below the free upper surface of said liquid. 
     
     
       5. The chest drainage apparatus of claim 1 wherein said one-way valve means includes an underwater seal chamber having a reservoir portion and underwater seal tube, said tube having a lower tube end positioned within said reservoir and an upper tube end in fluid communication with said vacuum control chamber. 
     
     
       6. The chest drainage apparatus of claim 4 further including a quantity of liquid in said reservoir portion of underwater seal chamber contacting said lower tube end. 
     
     
       7. The chest drainage apparatus of claim 1 wherein a portion of said vacuum control chamber is transparent so that said second end of said flexible conduit is visible therethrough. 
     
     
       8. The chest drainage apparatus of claim 1 wherein said elevation adjusting means includes: a vacuum control shaft formed with threadable engaging means on the exterior surface thereof, said shaft being positioned in said vacuum control chamber so that a distal end of said shaft is resting in said closed lower end and a proximal end of said shaft passes through said upper end in an airtight arrangement so that said shaft may be rotated by manually turning said proximal end; a shaft follower having a side wall portion formed with mating threadable engaging means engaging said shaft, said follower being in slidable engagement with said vacuum control chamber so that rotation of said shaft causes said follower to travel upwardly and downwardly along said shaft; and conduit engaging means for holding said conduit in a fixed position relative to said follower so that said second end of said conduit moves upwardly and downwardly within said vacuum control chamber as said shaft is rotated. 
     
     
       9. The chest drainage apparatus of claim 8 wherein said flexible conduit includes a bellows shaped portion positioned so that said conduit can expand and contract along its longitudinal axis, said vacuum control shaft being positioned so that a portion of said vacuum control shaft is within said bellows shaped portion wherein air passing through said flexible conduit passes through the space defined by the inside of said bellows shaped portion and the outside of the portion of said vacuum control shaft within said bellows shaped portion. 
     
     
       10. The chest drainage apparatus of claim 1 wherein said flexible conduit has a circularly shaped cross section. 
     
     
       11. The chest drainage apparatus of claim 1 wherein said flexible conduit includes a bellows shaped portion so that said conduit can expand and contract along its longitudinal axis. 
     
     
       12. The chest drainage apparatus of claim 1 wherein said collection chamber includes a plurality of separate receptacles all in fluid communication with each other and with said inlet means and said one-way valve means, said receptables being serially arranged so that when one of said receptacles is filled with fluid collected from the patient, additional collected fluid will overflow therefrom to fill the next receptacle and so on until all receptacles are full. 
     
     
       13. The chest drainage apparatus of claim 1 further including a filter means positioned so that all gases passing through said first end of said flexible conduit must pass through said filter means. 
     
     
       14. The chest drainage apparatus of claim 13 wherein said filter means includes a porous filter element having a maximum pore rating of about 0.5 micron for filtering particulate matter including microorganisms from gas passing therethrough. 
     
     
       15. The chest drainage apparatus of claim 1 wherein said collection chamber, said one-way valve means and said vacuum control chamber are made of rigid plastic material. 
     
     
       16. The chest drainage apparatus of claim 15 wherein said plastic material is selected from the group consisting of styrene-acrylonitrile, polystyrene, polycarbonate and acrylic. 
     
     
       17. The chest drainage apparatus of claim 1 wherein said flexible conduit is made of plastic material. 
     
     
       18. The chest drainage unit of claim 16 wherein said plastic material is selected from the group consisting of polyurethane, silicon and vinyl. 
     
     
       19. An operable drainage apparatus for draining fluid from a mammalian body cavity comprising: a collection chamber for collecting the fluid;   inlet means in fluid communication with said collection chamber for receiving fluid from the body cavity;   one-way valve means in fluid communication with said collection chamber for preventing air from entering the body cavity from said inlet means;   a vacuum control chamber having a closed lower end and an upper end in fluid communication with said one-way valve means;   a flexible conduit having a fixedly positioned first end in fluid communication with a fixed opening to the atmosphere and with the exterior of said apparatus and a second end movably positioned within said vacuum control chamber;   variable elevation adjustment means connected to said flexible conduit for vertically moving said second end upwardly and downwardly to various positions within said vacuum control chamber, the distance between said second end and said first end being decreased as said second end moves upwardly and increased as said second end moves downwardly; and   suction outlet means in fluid communication with said vacuum control chamber for communicating with a source of vacuum.   
     
     
       20. An operable chest drainage apparatus for draining fluid from the pleural cavity of a surgical patient comprising: a collection chamber for collecting the fluid;   an inlet port in fluid communication with said collection chamber adapted to receive fluid from the patient;   underwater seal means in fluid communication with said collection chamber for preventing air from entering the patient from said inlet port;   an elongate partially transparent vacuum control chamber having a closed lower end and an upper end in fluid communication with said underwater seal means;   a flexible conduit having a fixedly positioned first end in fluid communiction with a fixed opening to the atmosphere and with the exterior of said apparatus and a second end movably positioned within said vacuum control chamber;   vertically elevation adjustment means connected to said flexible conduit for vertically moving said second end upwardly and downwardly to various positions within said vacuum control chamber, the distance between said second end and said first end being decreased as said second end moves upwardly and increased as said second end moves downwardly, said elevation adjustment means being manually activatable from the exterior of said apparatus;   a suction outlet port in fluid communication with said upper end of said vacuum control chamber for communicating with a source of vacuum;   a quantity of liquid in said vacuum control chamber covering said second end of said flexible conduit so that said second end can be adjusted upwardly and downwardly within said liquid for varying the vacuum forces in said collection chamber when said suction outlet port is communicating with a source of vacuum; and   measuring indicia on said vacuum control chamber positioned so that the user can determine the distance said second end of said flexible conduit is below the free upper surface of said liquid.   
     
     
       21. The chest drainage apparatus of claim 20 wherein said elvation adjusting means includes: a vacuum control shaft formed with threadable engaging means on the exterior surface thereof, said shaft being positioned in said vacuum control chamber so that a distal end of said shaft is resting in said closed lower end and a proximal end of said shaft passes through said upper end in an airtight arrangement so that said shaft may be rotated by manually turning said proximal end; a shaft follower having a side wall portion formed with mating threadable engaging means engaging said shaft, said follower being in slidable engagement with said vacuum control chamber so that rotation of said shaft causes said follower to travel upwardly and downwardly along said shaft; and conduit engaging means for holding said conduit in a fixed position relative to said follower so that said second end of said conduit moves upwardly and downwardly within said vacuum control chamber as said shaft is rotated. 
     
     
       22. The chest drainage apparatus of claim 20 wherein said collection chamber includes a plurality of separate receptacles all in fluid communication with each other and with said inlet port and said underwater seal means, said receptacles being serially arranged so that when one of said receptacles is filled with fluid collected from the patient, additional collected fluid will overflow therefrom to fill the next receptacle and so on until all receptacles are full.